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We watched as she quickly ran down the same hall she told us to go down. Still holding hands, Blair and I rushed down the hall and took the steps. The two flights of stairs took us down to a basement, and we both stopped short once we saw what was there.

“What the fuck is this, Capri?” Blair whispered.

I squeezed her hand, not having a direct answer to what we were looking at. The entire basement was the same square footage as the upstairs we had left from; however, it wasn’t the same warm and cozy vibe that you got upstairs.

Downstairs was the exact replica of an entire hospital. There was a nurse’s station, triage rooms, and actual hospital rooms. Further down the hall, there were two double doors with restricted access.

“I don’t give a fuck what they talking about… If you’re operating on him, I want to be in there with him.”

The doctor sighed as Hassan towered over him. “Dr. King, this isn’t the time for you to experiment with your skills.”

Hassan walked away while counting, then turned back to face the doctor.

“Don’t fucking insult me. I’ve been in an operating room plenty of times.

What I’m telling you is that man is the closest thing I have to a big brother.

He saved my life and is the reason I am a doctor today. It’s my turn to save him now.”

The doctor reached up and touched his shoulder. “Scrub in and be quick.”

Hassan rushed down the hall. “What is going on, Hassan?” I hollered behind him.

He paused and double backed. “Shit... Queen and Lady Inferno… give me a sec?—”

“Is it Quasim? Blair nearly screamed while the tears continued to fall down her face, as I held her hand tightly.

Recommendation: Listen to Never Leave You by Fridayy

The other doctor rushed past us and Hassan looked at both of us. “Dr. King, scrub in now…” It was like the doctors had some kind of secret language that only they understood.

“He’s coding… take her back upstairs, Capri. She doesn’t need to see any of this.”

“Dr. King!” We heard someone yell for him, and we followed behind him past the area that was restricted from us. There was so much blood all over the floor leading to one room. I gasped when I saw it was a full operating room.

Quasim was in the middle of the bed with his shirt cut open and his cross still around his neck.

One nurse tried to remove it, and Blair screamed.

“Noooo, leave it. You leave his fucking cross around his neck. Never fucking remove it,” she tried to run into the operating room, and I held her back while she screamed and collapsed into my arms. “Simmy, please, baby, wake up! You promised me, Simmy!”

“I’m bringing him up out of this, Queen.” Hassan promised her.

“Dr. King, you know making prom?—”

“Nah, I’m making sure the King rises again… ain’t no doubt about that.” I watched as he went to another room and proceeded to scrub in with this look of determination in his eyes.

I held her as she screamed into my chest. We both were sitting in the pool of his blood as I prayed for him. My best friend was not only pregnant, but she had just married the love of her life. God wouldn’t have been that cruel to take him away from her.

I rocked her as she screamed into my chest while we heard them on the other side working on him. My heart hurt seeing Quasim that way because he was never down. He was the strength that we all needed, always one call away. Nothing ever got him down and now he was fighting for his life.

“Mrs. Inferno, your husband wants to see you before we put him under.” How could I choose where I needed to be?

I needed to be with my husband, but my best friend was in no shape to be alone. As if she knew my dilemma, Syn came running down the hall. “Your brothers just arrived.”

“Bring her upstairs, I will be right behind you. I need to make sure that my husband is alright before going under.”

I kissed Blair’s head as Syn helped her to her feet, and they headed upstairs. The doctor showed me the room that Meer was in, and he was on the bed looking at me. He was scared and had always told me he had a fear of being put under.

It was the reason that I needed to see him before he went under. “My brother, Sug?”

I couldn’t tell him what I knew because it would only set him off further. “He’s in the room down the hall… get this bullet removed so you can wake up and see him.”

I prayed that my words didn’t come back to bite me in the ass. Quasim had to be alright because without him, Meer would never be alright. They were a package deal and had been for most of their lives, even when they didn’t see eye to eye.

There was no Quasim without Quameer, and vice versa. Tears pricked my eyes as I looked down into my baby’s eyes. “I don’t like this shit, Sug.”

“I know, baby, I know. I’m right here… never going anywhere. Forever, right?”

He kissed my hand and held it to his chest, and I felt his heart beating out of control. “Forever and even after that, Cappin ass Capri.”

I kissed his lips and removed the stray hairs and curls from his eyes as my tears fell onto his face. “Never cappin when it comes to you… you owe me a date night, Meer… a nice and expensive one.”

“I got you.”

The doctor allowed me to watch as he administered the anesthesia to him. He counted back from ten and made it seven before he was out. I closed my eyes and kissed my fingers while I backed myself into the hallway. I stood right in the middle of both rooms, between my brother and my husband.

Both Infernos were out of commission, and it was up to me to make sure our family was good. When I looked up from my hands, I saw Papa on the steps on the other side of the door. When we locked eyes, I removed myself from the restricted area and he pulled me into his arms.

“My boys are strong… they get through everything they are put through and come out stronger.” He assured me and himself, because he needed to believe and hold onto that as much as I needed to.

The restricted door opened, and Papa kissed my head before walking through the door. He slid onto the floor and sat between both doors of his sons’ rooms. I slowly walked up the steps, feeling like I couldn’t breathe.

My heart felt like it was on fire, and someone was pushing the air out of my body slowly but surely. As I made it up the steps and rounded the corner, I ran into Cappadonna.

“Baby Doll, come ‘ere” He said and pulled me into his arms, squeezing me like only he could.

Soon as I smelled his familiar scent, fresh laundry, I broke down into his arms. The wails that left my body were unrecognizable because this shit wasn’t fair. This wasn’t supposed to be our life right now.

We had just been in Barbados, watching them drunkenly sing on the beach together. Meer had just sung as we watched Blair come down the aisle to Quasim. How was all of this happening to us now?

“Capri, I know you have to be strong for the Infernos because you are Lady Inferno. You never have to be strong when it comes to me… I’m your big brother and whenever you need to break down those walls, I’m here to break them down for you.” He kissed the top of my head as I sobbed while he held me.

“Cappy, I can’t lose either of them… I cannot.”

“You not losing either of them. Quasim just being fucking dramatic. That nigga owe me like ten stacks because I won a bet… his ass better not die.”

I looked up at him as he smiled down at me. “Cappy, not funny.”

“I’m dead fucking serious… matter fact, let me go ask his new wife where he keep his bread.” He continued as he kissed my forehead a few times, trying to make me feel better. “Meer ain’t going anywhere … he pissy as hell. They not letting him through the pearly gates smelling like that.”

Leave it to my brother to make me laugh through my tears. “I love you, Cappy.”

“Love you so much more, Baby Doll.” He kissed both my cheeks and hugged me tighter.

Neither of us said anything as he allowed me the silence to get myself back together. Once I was good, he kissed my head once more. “Just because you a mommy doesn’t mean you’re not my Baby Doll anymore.”

I smiled up at him. “Thought you replaced me with your niece.”

Cherry wasn’t old enough to speak, and she could get anything out of her uncle.

Cappadonna was putty when it came to babies, and all she had to do was spit, and he was coming to pick her up and smother her with kisses.

Peach didn’t have to ask for anything because Cappadonna spoiled her the same way.

I don’t know how many times I’ve caught her counting hundred-dollar bills because she had suckered Cappadonna and Capone into donating to her dirt bike fund. At this point, she had enough for the bike, but Meer wasn’t allowing her to get one.

We had dirt bikes at the lake house; however, they weren’t their sizes.

He chuckled. “My nieces and nephews are my hearts… don’t take it personal.”

We headed back into the living room where Blair was staring into space with swollen eyes and a red face. I quickly went and sat by her side, as I held and rocked her while we waited to hear her husband’s fate.

“What is this place?” I questioned.

Capone looked up from his phone. “Private hospital that we own.”

“You never told me about this, Capone.”

He leaned forward. “It’s been in the works since before Capp came home. Shit wasn’t easy, but Ramos helped me get this shit done correctly. The house that was here before was demolished so we could build the basement out more.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about it?”

“Pri, you know me. I don’t speak on shit until it’s done.

Getting the machines and equipment, along with making sure this shit was done correctly and on the low, wasn’t easy.

Every time we go to the hospital for some shit, they watching us.

Detectives come sniffing around, and eventually, that shit gonna end up on either you, Forty, or Kora’s desk…

Eventually that shit gonna catch up to us.

Plus, you know how I feel about hospitals…

I get my infusions here, and Capella does, too. ”